


I can't believe RJ is freaking dead

by PineappleMystery



Category: Paranatural (Webcomic)
Genre: Also they aren't even really in this fic but whatever, M/M, RJ isn't really dead lol, but mostly implied, rip hoodie, slight bullymagnet, takes place after ch5 pg163
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-08
Updated: 2016-12-08
Packaged: 2018-09-07 05:19:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8784676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PineappleMystery/pseuds/PineappleMystery
Summary: Johnny just got the snot beat out of him by surprise martial artist Ed and Max is there to comfort him (begrudgingly)





	

“Stupid Lisa and stupid Suzy, and stupid Collin n’ Cody n’ body-snatching spirits….” grumbled Max as he made his way down the halls of the middle school. Lunch time was almost over, and that meant he had to return to the nurse's office before anyone noticed he was missing. Before he ran out earlier to join the club in chasing down Evil-Jeff, the dinosauric nurse had called his dad. Dad  was on the way to the school to pick him up right now, probably worried sick and driving off the road or something. And while he didn’t want to admit it, his arm really hurt and was probably broken. These next few weeks were gonna _suck_.

“At least I could get some peace from deathly spirit missions I guess…” Max stopped after rounding the corner to the nurse’s office, surprised by what he saw. Standing outside the doorway was Johnny, and he was shirtless for some reason? For all the trouble Max went through to stop Johnny from getting seriously hurt during gym, now there he was outside the nurse’s office not thirty minutes later! Oh, Max was gonna give that kid a piece of his mind, broken arm or not. As the boy came closer to the redhead he saw that he looked dismal; very unlike the overhyped annoying bully he knew. He also looked like he had flecks of… blood… on him? He was running forward before he even knew it.

“Johnny, hey! What happened?! Are you okay?” his eyes flickered to the spots of blood on the other boy’s collarbone. “What’s goin-”

“I’m fine. It’s RJ’s.” Johnny didn’t look up from the floor, eyebrows drawn together. “They’re fine. Bloody nose. I’m just waitin’ on ‘em.”

“O-oh.” Max was taken aback. This was very unlike Johnny, to be so subdued like this. “So… what happened?”

Johnny didn’t say anything. He peeked into the room to check on RJ, apparently having a silent conversation with them while Max watched.

“.... Dude. Where’s your shirt?” Johnny continued ignoring him, and okay he was starting to get really worried now. What the heck had happened? “Seriously Johnny, you’re starting to creep me out.” The other boy turned back to him, hunching up his shoulders and sticking his hands in his pockets. He didn’t look Max in the eye as he answered.

“...Got into a fight.”

Max waited a beat for the story, but it was silent. “That’s it? You got into a fight?” Johnny shrugged, but offered no further explanation, glaring at the ground between them. Max sighed out his building frustration with the lack of concrete answers. Why didn’t anyone around here just give him a straight answer?!

“You know what? Whatever, it’s cool. Not like I thought we were friends or anything.” he mumbled the last part angrily, already turning away. “Follow me.”

The lack of footsteps following him made him turn around, but the nasty retort on his tongue died as they made eye contact. Johnny was staring right at him, eyes off the floor for the first time since the conversation started. The confusion, fear, anger, and even pleading Max saw there jolted right through him, making him wish more than before that Johnny would just tell him what was wrong. They stared at each other, a mix of conflicting emotions building between them, and Max was frozen by the hurt and regret he could see so clearly on the other’s face, and he just wanted the hurt to go away-

Johnny looked away.  

Max blinked, and took a deep breath. “C’mon, my dad will be here soon to pick me up, and I need someone to help me carry my books.” Max waved his hurt arm slightly, attempting to lighten the situation with a smirk. Johnny’s brows furrowed further, but he stepped away from the office to follow him away.

Max lead the way down the hallways to his locker, silence only broken by the chatter of the occasional group of kids gathered around lockers or closed classrooms. Once they reached the right locker (Max had only been here a few days, he was still memorizing where everything was) he quickly put in his combination and swung it open with a little more force than necessary. He was still upset with Johnny, but had already made up his mind. He reached in and pulled out his favorite, and only, _Insolent Children_ hoodie.

“Here.” Max didn’t look up at Johnny, his mind on trying to figure out how he was going to carry all his books and backpack when his dad showed up. After a few seconds of holding the clothing out to empty air, Max turned to Johnny, offering the item insistently. “Here. I don’t know if you have a change of clothes, so you can wear it for the rest of the day.”

Surprise lit up the other boy’s face, his arms wrapped around his chest loosening their tight protective grip around his bare body. He was planning on wearing his gym shirt, but Max was looking at him so expectantly, offering to help him again without any hint of distrust….

“Um, yeah, thanks,” he took the clothing from Max, holding it close. He glanced at Max and let a small smile accompany the growing blush on his face. Max responded with a bright smile.

“Cool. Also, I wasn’t kidding about helping me with my stuff. Favors for favors, yeah?” Max smirked and gestured with his good hand to his locker. There wasn’t much stuff crowding it (yet) but his backpack, baseball bat, and a few big textbooks. “Oh, and that hoodie is like my favorite so don’t destroy it or I’ll destroy you.” he said flippantly, already reaching to grab his bag. “Can you get those books for me?”

Johnny startled into action, hurriedly putting on the hoodie and adjusting it. It was just a tad bit too small on him, and smelled like greasy pizza and burnt metal. Weird, but he’d dealt with worse before.

Johnny spent the next few minutes helping Max fill up his backpack like a terrible game of textbook tetris. Max laughed at him when the literature book fell onto his foot, making Johnny jump around comically on one foot holding the other, middleschool curses flying out of his mouth. Johnny was just about to playfully sock the laughing boy in the shoulder when the loudspeaker buzzed to life.

“Maxwell Puckett, to the main office please. Maxwell Puckett, to the main office.”

Max hastily zipped his backpack up, and threw the heavy thing onto one shoulder. “Oof. Time for me to go.” he snatched the bat from where it rested in the locker and kicked it closed. “Put the lock on for me?”

“Yeah, sure.” Johnny fiddled with the lock until it closed. Max had already started walking away. “H-hey! Wait up,” he ran to catch up with the other boy and fell in step beside him, rethinking the events of the day. He side eyed the sling Max’s bad arm rested in.

“Thanks for helping me with my stuff,” Max said, breaking the ice.

“Thanks for letting me borrow your hoodie,” Johnny retorted. “Seriously. Ya didn’t have to do that.” The sling caught his eyes again. Max stopped walking, and Johnny looked up at him at the unexpected action, stopping as well. Max had caught him staring, and sighed exasperatingly.

“Johnny, it’s cool. Seriously. You don’t have to feel guilty or whatever, my actions were my own.” he waved to his sling with his bat in hand. “This was my fault, not anyone else’s. Especially not yours.” Max stared at Johnny pointedly, until Johnny had to look away, heat creeping up the back of his neck. “So mushy mushy goo goo and whatever, but I’ve _really_ got to go so see you later. Bye, and don’t ruin my jacket!” Max finally turned and ran down the hall to the main office, leaving Johnny questioning the fondness he heard in the other’s voice. The heat was in his face now, as he watched Max disappear down the stairs.

He played with the ends of hoodie strings for a few seconds. RJ was probably wondering where he was, and Ollie too. The bell had already rung and he was very late for class but he didn’t care. Johnny walked away.

Max sure was a strange kid, and that was without the whole flying through the woods, purple goo monsters, and lightning legs stuff. He supposed that he was pretty weird himself; after all, he was friends with Max. The redhead grinned.

There was no way Max was getting his hoodie back in tact.


End file.
